


Bound By The Law

by LuciusMalfoy



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-21 17:40:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3701079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciusMalfoy/pseuds/LuciusMalfoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Norrington had upheld the law instead of giving the pirates who took everything from him a head start?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"You forget your place, Mr. Turner." Norrington said as he looked disdainfully at the wayward blacksmith.

Looking over towards the Commodore's general direction, Will knew just where his place really was. "It's right here, between you and Jack." The evening sun was casting it's rays before his vision making it difficult for him to actually see the Commodore, even with his hat on.

"As is mine." Elizabeth added quickly, moving closer into Will's embrace, much to the disgust of her ex-fiance.

"Lower your weapons! For goodness sake, put them down." Governer Swann yelled as he looked around scornfully at Norrington's men, almost daring any one of them to keep pointing their weapons at his only child. "Elizabeth?" He asked, thoroughly confused at what all had transpired since he had last laid eyes upon his daughter.

Commodore Norrington looked upon the happy couple and couldn't help but feel the familiar pangs of heartache. The love of his life having been torn away from him, clearly having chosen to take up shelter in the arms of the filthy pirate who had taken her away from him. "So, this is where your heart truly lies then?" He said with a voice full of something between sorrow and disappointment, not sure which emotion was the most prevalent in that moment as the familiar twinge of jealousy charted its course through his chest once more at the sight of them together.

A small smile crossing her features as she looked into the eyes of her pirate Elizabeth answered simply. "It is." Closing her eyes as she rested her head upon his chest she began to wonder how the boy she knew as a child had somehow transformed himself magnificently into the man before her.

"I see," Norrington said as he pursed his lips together before turning his back to them. "It is as I feared then. Guards! Seize them all!"

Shocked by the Commodore's sudden lack of honor Elizabeth couldn't hold back her outrage. "On what charges?!" She asked, her surprise by what he had just done to her and her newfound friends made sharper still as she and Will were torn apart by the guardsmen.

"Acts of piracy as well as association with pirates." Norrington said flatly as he looked over at the trio, restrained by his men. "Please escort Mr. Sparrow and Mr. Turner to the Port Royal Jail. Establish a twenty four hour guard upon each of their holding cells, do not permit them to be alone for a single moment. As for Miss Swann, see to it that she is taken to my cabin and locked inside with a standing watch for her own protection."

Her eyes steeled upon her captor Elizabeth had no intention of going peacefully, nor without getting in the last word. "Commodore I ask for no special consideration, for I would rather be in jail, than with you."

"Come now, Elizabeth, darling." Norrington said as he moved to stand before Elizabeth, smiling a smile filled of false pity down upon her. "You've been through such a trying ordeal. Your acts of piracy shall likely be excused, as you are, indeed, delusional and thus, cannot be held accountable for your actions, as of late." He said as he moved next to Will, casting a most reproachful look at him. "No doubt they were made under great duress, dare I even say that your life was at stake should you not have done what these pirates coerced you into doing."

Well beyond the point of arguing logic Elizabeth simply shouted at the man who was smiling as he watched her friends being carted off to some rundown jail cell. "That's not true!" She fumed, as Norrington simply turned his gaze to her father, who was now protesting at the impropriety of his daughter being held in, as far as he knew, her fiance's estate.

Speaking in rather hushed tones, as if he feared his comments would place his daughter further in harms way, Governer Swann began his conversation with the man in charge. "Commodore, although it is well within your rights as an officer I must express my concern as to my daughter being locked up with a man whom, is not yet, her husband."

Looking rather seriously upon the man he had hoped would become his father-in-law Norrington spoke softly. "Governer Swann, I assure you that what I do, I do only for Elizabeth's own protection. Need I remind you that I am bound by the law? The alternative is that Elizabeth is placed in jail, with not only those pirates, but other men of even greater ill reputation and I fear for her safety should that occur. Now, I ask you, Governer, what is more improper? Elizabeth being locked in a cell with dangerous men, or being held under my charge?" He inquired, as they both glanced over at Elizabeth, who was doing her best to twist free from the trained guardsmen who held her steadfast.

Cornered with the truth, Governer Swann could only withdraw his objections as he glanced most concernedly at his daughter. "All I ask is that you take care of her."

"You have my word." Norrington said, taking a step nearer Elizabeth and Will, who had managed to clasp desperate hands with one another, watching as they exchanged words of hope and endless devotion before it became too much for him to bear, gripping Will and dragging him by the arm towards Port Royal's jail.

Thrashing about in a vain attempt to escape Will stopped suddenly and threatened the Commodore in a dangerous voice, realizing this may be his only chance to say something to the man whom had just thrown him, and everyone he ever cared about, to the wolves."You'll regret this Commodore! I swear it!"

"I doubt that highly Mr. Turner as you are well aware the penalty for piracy is death and I plan on seeing to it that your case is expedited." Norrington said, giving the disgraced pirate a turse smile before continuing to drag him along, confident that he would get what was coming to him for the mess he had made of both their lives.

Elizabeth shrieked as the guardsmen carried her off towards a carriage. "No! Will!" Unable to do anything but scream the guards forced her inside and set off towards The Dauntless.

"Can't let you do that mate." Jack said as he was being dragged along limply by Norrington's men, smelling strongly of rum, having consumed much in the expectation that a celebration of sorts would take place at the safe return of the Commodore's beloved.

Raising a wary eyebrow at the notorious pirate, secretly wondering if he did indeed have some sort of plan swirling about in his head Norrington half-jokingly gave his response. "And what, pray tell, do you plan on doing about it?"

"This." Jack said as he hooked the toes of his boots in the loose brick street, using the resistance to slip his wrists free of the guards and stand up straight.

Looking shockingly onward Norrington shouted orders to his men."Don't just stand there! Get him!"

"I don't think so lads." Sparrow said, as his would be captors turned around, giving Jack just enough time to kick over the wall of empty shipping crates that lined the port on top of everyone.

"Don't let him escape!" Norrington commanded a bit breathlessly, as he moved to dodge most of the wooden crates, holding onto Will steadfastly as they looked over towards Sparrow, anxious to see what would come of the situation.

After a few tense moments of tussling and wrestling on the broken crates and wooden planks Norrington's men were finally able to recapture Jack Sparrow.

"Clap that man in irons immediately." Norrington said in a furious voice as he dragged Will over towards Sparrow, wary that the pirate might have managed to achieve something from the ruckus.

After a few minutes of study, Norrington spoke, "I will always remember this day as the day I managed to capture Jack Sparrow, twice." smiling at Jack, satisfied that the pirate had not managed to acquire anything he could use as a weapon.

"That's Captain Jack Sparrow there, mate!" Jack corrected, dusting himself off in a leisurely manner, as much as any man could while being restrained, much to the Commodore's displeasure.

"That's Commodore to you, pirate." Norrington spat, the smirk now gone from his lips. "No matter, your little escapade bought you nothing more than a headache judging from the size of that lump on your head."

Jack simply grinned from ear to ear, unnerving the Commodore before being loaded up with Will into the back of a jail carriage and carted off to await his sentence.


	2. Chapter 2

"What would you have me do, Elizabeth?" Norrington inquired as he stood before Elizabeth in his cabin aboard the HMS Dauntless, wondering as to what other choice she seemed to believe he had that would have spared her, her friends and himself from being strung up with ropes about their necks for acts of both piracy and treason. Looking down upon his beloved's face, he could see that he had without question, provoked her ire, which was now directed decidedly at him. An ire that, as far as he was concerned, ill deserved. He had done the honorable thing in saving her from both the pirates and the gallows. A lover's quarrel, this was not, and it did not behoove a woman of her innate quality, in his eyes, to continue to behave in such outlandish fashion.

"You could have done something, said something to protect them instead of turning them in! They trusted you, I trusted you." Elizabeth shouted at the Commodore, her frustrations having reached a boiling point. No longer content with playing the part of the little lady, and despite what was expected of someone of her social standing, she was determined to make her new position known to her ex-fiance. Standing squarely upon the hardwood flooring of the cabin, she found it difficult to make her words carry to him, as he seemed only to recognize the lady in her and not the woman she had become, further inciting her rage.

Folding his hands behind him and taking a step closer to her in an effort to traject the seriousness of the matters at hand, Norrington began to craft a succinct reply that he hoped would bring about an end to whatever fairy tales Elizabeth had been compelled to believe in by those wretched pirates. "Elizabeth, do you not understand my position? You expect me to throw myself in with their lot after all they have done? It is because of those two, that I am now obligated to produce a proper explanation, in regards to your behavior, to the high court. An explanation, mind you, that will not only both spare you and I from the noose, but to prevent them from locking you up in an asylum for the rest of your days. I implore you to see reason, there is nothing to be gained by associating yourself with those squalid pirates, and by doing so you dishonor not only yourself but your father and I as well and I will not stand for it."

"You won't stand for it? You think this is all about you and your image! Those pirates you keep affronting , saved my life! How can you turn your back on them as if they mean nothing to you? You are truly not the man I thought you were, James Norrington!" With her displeasure out in the open, and feeling no less miserable with worry at the thought of what would become of Will and Jack, Elizabeth sharply whirled around and sat on the edge of Norrington's bed. Crossing her arms and legs, she gave James a look comparable with that of frozen steel, hoping that he would be wise enough to take the hint and just leave.

Norrington could see that his words did not have their intended effect as he looked across the room at Elizabeth. Disheartened that his words had failed to appeal to her good sense, and even more so that she had been turned against him so completely by a mere blacksmith, he could not keep the disappointment from showing in his eyes. Grasping the chair from his desk and placing it before the object of his affections, he sat down before Elizabeth and placed his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, exhausted. Removing his hat and wig and tossing them down upon the glossy floor of his cabin, the Commodore ran his hands through his hair and sighed, unsure of what he could say to draw the woman he loved back to him and save her from whatever spell had been cast upon her.

"I've made no secret of my intolerance for your, how shall I say, friends, nor of my love for you." Norrington said, straightening himself upright in his seat out of reflex, finding his formerly slouched position an affront to the manners that had been ingrained in him since he was a child. "Elizabeth." Norrington continued nervously, not quite sure if he could find the strength to say what he really felt to a woman who had repeatedly declined his advances, no matter how small. He struggled to find the words, words which he had been too apprehensive to speak before now, afraid of being rejected completely by the woman he loved. "Do I really mean so little to you, that you no longer have any faith in me? Do you not realize that everything I have ever done, has been to honor you? To protect you? To, love you?" Looking into her eyes, Norrington thought he saw something, some trace of emotion, that gave him a glimmer of hope. Hope, that if he could only find the strength to endure, that she would find her way back to him. Not to merely stand beside him in order to swindle some favor, but to stay with him always because that is what she truly wanted.

Looking at a man whom she had previously thought to be an honorable one, Elizabeth shook her head silently, side to side, unable to bring herself to say it aloud. Some small part of her wanted to shut out the thought that James had turned his back on her friends, and in some ways, her. Perhaps it was because she realized deep down that, from his position, he was really just doing his job and being the honorable man he always had been. That in doing what was right for himself, that he too was, in some ways, a fellow pirate. However her anger at the thought of James having handed in her love, as well as Jack Sparrow and thus condemning them both to death was winning out against any sort of sympathy she might have had for him, and incapable of saying a word further, her world having been turned upside down, she began to cry. The emotions she had, too strong to be kept inside, and seemingly no other way to release them. It was simply too much for her to process and, not wanting to give him any sort of satisfaction, she suddenly stood and grabbed James' jacket, sending golden buttons scattering across the room as she ripped it open. Shoving a hand inside an inner pocket, she grabbed at the handkerchief she knew he kept there. Hooking a boot under a leg of his chair, she then pushed him backwards and tipped his chair as she did so, watching with some measure of satisfaction as his head connected with the hard floor.

Looking up at Elizabeth for a moment, wide eyed and completely stunned at what she had just done, James suddenly propped himself up on both elbows and watched her from his place on the floor, as if unable to register what had just transpired. After a moment he began rubbing a hand at the back of his head in a vain attempt to soothe the stinging pain beneath his fingers, being able to provide no such comfort to his unequally pained heart. Her answer, he decided, had been given in no uncertain terms and he could not hide his anger at the fashion in which she had delivered it to him. "So be it then, you have given me no other choice!" Norrington said, rising to his feet, bending over to retrieve his cap and wig before turning sharply and making his way to the door.

"What are you doing, James?" Elizabeth asked, wide eyed, suddenly afraid of what consequences her actions may have for her beloved Will and Jack.

"I am going to do what I should have done from the very moment Jack Sparrow laid his filthy hands upon you. The same goes for that wretched rogue, Mr. Turner." And with that, Norrington stepped out of his cabin and on deck, barely mustering enough restraint to avoid slamming the door closed behind him. Turning to his long time acquaintance, he gave new orders. "Gillette, Please see to it that Miss Swann is confined to my quarters until such time that other arrangements can be made, that is all, thank you." Dismissing his first mate's curious looks in regards to his disheveled appearance with a curt nod, he strode confidently off the HMS Dauntless and onto the pier. On his way, passing various privates who were hustling back and forth, loading boxes of cargo aboard the ship in preparation for the coming voyage and making his way onwards to the Port Royal Jail for a visit with the two men responsible for ruining both Elizabeth and his lives, with nothing but tantalizing thoughts of retribution in mind.


	3. Chapter 3

"Now, if you do not mind, I would like a moment alone with these two." James said as he stood brooding in the early moonlight. Staring gloweringly down upon the cap and wig in his hands he ran a palm along the feather lining as he had done often before when a solemn occasion called for stoic grace. Repeating this motion slowly, methodically again and again, he began to compose himself once more as it had become a familiar practice since his promotion.

Elizabeth hadn't known it, but after her perilous tumble into the deep blue sea and her subsequent rescue at the hands of Jack Sparrow, she had lost her bonnet. It was a beautiful bonnet, embellished with intricate lashings of lace throughout. Clean, delicate and warm like the woman to whom it had once belonged. She surely hadn't missed it following the chain of chaotic events that followed her literal swan dive and he was glad for it. After he had seen to her rescue, he had fished her bonnet out of the salty port water with the intention of returning it to her but found himself in no great rush to reunite her with her lost article. Although it was admittedly petty theft, he had taken the bonnet to a back street tailor a few towns away, not wanting his deed to be discovered and had the strips of fine lace which once framed the face of his beloved, sewn into the trim of his cap.

In times of great stress he had accustomed himself to taking the fine material beneath his fingertips in order to remind himself just what it was he was striving for.

"Yes, Commodore." The young Private said before leaving his post in favor of going for a quick evening stroll as per the Commodore's not so subtle demand.

Turning his head to ensure that he was indeed alone, he ran a hand through his hair, slicking it back into some semblance of order and readjusted his open jacket, lamenting the loss of the buttons. Not caring what Sparrow and Turner might make of his appearance he slipped into the dark, rocky cavern known as the Port Royal Jail.

Grabbing a lantern from the entryway he began his journey down the damp and moldy staircase that led into the dim lit dungeons. Making his way past criminals that had been charged with increasingly loathsome crimes he reached the bottom of the stairs and continued down a long hall until he reached the end. Turning a corner he hung his lantern on the wall and traded it for a pair of rusty keys. Unlocking the cellar door, he wrinkled his nose at the dingy brown residue left upon his hands from the degraded metal before smiling as he clenched them more tightly.

"There you are, Commodore!" Jack sang cheerfully as he rose from his seat on the floor behind iron bars. "That didn't take long now did it? I had a feeling you'd come to your senses. No doubt the Bonnie Lass helped set things right of course." Reaching a hand out through the bars, Jack's smile fell as Norrington batted the unwelcome limb away from him in disgust.

"Like hell, pirate." James spat as he turned his warped attentions towards the blacksmith who hadn't done so much as lift his head to acknowledge his presence in the room. "The reason I'm here..."

"Is The Pearl." Jack finished for him, watching on with amusement at the Commodore's disapproval at being interrupted.

"I will speak for myself, thank you." Norrington said sharply as he stood contemplating the both of them, on guard for whatever outrageous escape attempt they no doubt had been planning. "I am indeed here about The Black Pearl. The Queen's Navy has been chasing the Pearl ever since she fled Port Royal this afternoon after a failed rescue attempt. She was seen heading northeast."

"Yes, but they've lost sight of her no doubt." Jack said quietly, grinning. Knowing that he was right as he saw the look of hesitation on his captor's face he continued. "I can help you there. Free me and I will find her for you."

Upon hearing Jack's words, Will looked up suddenly, watching and listening further.

"Not on your life." Norrington said as he turned to stand before Will, a wall of welded iron not being the only thing standing between them. "You see, it seems that your friends believe that you are already dead." Norrington continued, a small smirk playing over his features as he began to elaborate. "I learned a great deal from your first escape and I am determined to see to it that you never escape from my grasp again, so I devised a little plan. I had my men sail out near your wayward band of thieves and execute what would appear to be your hanging right before their very eyes. It was really quite simple. All it took was some mannequins that I had dressed up to resemble you two. A short drop and a sudden stop later off the side of the ship, a little flailing courtesy of some puppet strings and for all intents and purposes it appeared to them as if I had successfully executed the both of you well before noon."

"So you see, no one is coming to save you this time."

"How is Elizabeth?" Will asked, beyond caring about his own fortunes.

"I really want to thank you, you know." James said, half-heartedly as he dropped his shoulders and moved close against the bars, a hair's breath away from the man who held Elizabeth's heart. "Due to your complete lack of character I was able to have Elizabeth placed with me until further notice." Smiling a wicked smile and raising his eyebrows, Norrington somehow managed to move in even closer before finishing. "For her own good, of course. She's no longer a concern of yours and I would have thought that even you would have had more honor than to try and beg favors from a lady."

"Well James, what exactly is it that you think you have been asking Elizabeth for all of this time then, I wonder?" Will said, eyes smiling as he straightened up against the bars and moved in closer, before noticing Jack, who was desperately, quietly reaching for something behind Norrington's person. In an instant, Will came crashing down on the hard floor, the iron bars having been spaced widely enough to allow Commodore James Norrington to strike him cleanly against his jaw, the metal bar of the keys wound tightly in his clenched fist. Stunned for a moment, he began to cup his jaw as what had just transpired began to register. Leaping to his feet suddenly, he began to pace back and forth in his cage before rattling the bars in his outrage, unable to exchange blows as the Commodore had stepped back just beyond his desperate, clawing grasp.

"So that is how the Queen's Navy treats it's prisoners." Jack said as he stood with his back leaning against the wall, unimpressed by the Commodore's actions.

Looking at Jack, then back at Will, he knew that the pirate was right. Hitting Will had been the wrong thing to do, despite how great it had felt. Abusing prisoners was something he had always held in high contempt but apparently not something he was above doing himself and he felt ashamed. Shamed by a pirate! "This time, I will hang you both for real!" Unable to bear their gazes a moment longer, Norrington turned around sharply and headed for the outside.

The minute the Commodore had left, Will turned to Jack, looking him over for a few minutes in silence, unable to tell what Jack had been able to grab from the waistband of the Officer's trousers. "Jack! What did you take from him?" Will asked, growing more impatient as the pain and swelling in his jaw grew.

Grinning, Jack simply held open a hand, revealing a sparkling key, shaking it for dramatic effect.

"Jack, that's not the key to our cells." Will said, defeated. "You had me rile him up and let him punch me so you could grab the wrong set of keys?" Will looked on in disbelief.

"No, Will. I grabbed Norrington's key. The key to his cabin aboard The Dauntless. The key to Elizabeth's cell." Jack explained as his eyes moved to the lock on his cell door. Reaching into his shirt, he removed an old skeleton key from beneath the filthy, rum soaked cotton and swiftly unlocked his cell.

"You've had the key this entire time? You've had the key to our cells the whole time and you didn't try to escape before now, Why?" Will asked, watching as Sparrow opened the cellar door and walked out before turning around to face him in the doorway.

"Yeah," Jack said, smiling a cunning smile as he looked at the disheveled man behind bars before him. "I knew that if I waited long enough that Norrington would come and do something incredibly stupid, like tell me where the Pearl was headed."

"Let me out of here." Will demanded flatly, beckoning Jack forward, watching as the man drew near and placed the key in the lock. "How do you know where the Pearl is headed?" Will continued, not realizing how Jack could possibly know where the Pearl was going with nothing more than the vague direction of northeast.

"Where would any good crew go to mourn their beloved Captain? Where we are heading..." Jack said, turning the key and releasing the lock before giving Will his best grin. "is Tortuga."


	4. Chapter 4

"Where are we going?" Will asked, his voice hurried and breathy as he spoke. "The docks are back that way."

"That is precisely why we are heading this way." Jack answered as they made their way down the back alley, boots clanking briskly upon the tightly packed cobblestones.

"We need to rescue Elizabeth first." Will started anew as he hurried behind the older, unkempt pirate. "We can't just leave her with him."

Stopping suddenly, Will watched as Jack turned to face him, the highlights of his featured edged in the blue glow of the dawning hours. "If this is going to work between us at all, I'm going to need you to listen to me and do exactly as I say." He heard Jack begin as they stood in the alley, both pausing to watch as a stray cat ran past. "We are going to rescue the lovely Miss Swann, but in order to do that, we are going to need to get back my crew and my ship, savvy? Unless you are under the impression that we two can take on the entire Royal Navy by our lonesome, in which case, you are, delusional."

Crossing his arms defensively, Will responded. "Your crew is heading for Tortuga at this very moment, we are unarmed, have no ship, no money and we are fugitives from the law. How exactly do you suppose we catch up to them?"

"Like I said earlier, just do as I say, exactly, as I say and all will be well, is that understood boy?"

Not exactly sure of what to make of this demand, Will looked into the eyes of the only man left in the world who he considered to be a man of his word. He had brought him this close to Elizabeth in such a short time, why stop trusting him now?

He nodded in silent agreement before they continued on their way, turning down one row of houses after the other as they became seemingly lost in the ocean of bricks and mortar surrounding them. Eventually they emerged from the back ways and came to stop in front of a rather abandoned looking shopfront.

"Wait here." Jack said as Will watched him open the door, apparently unlocked, and enter the dingy looking space, leaving him behind out on the street.

Moving towards the small window of the shopfront, he could scarcely view the inside. There were random pieces of furniture throughout that had seen better days, but other than that, he could not make out much. The poor light of the waking hours, the filthy, thick glass and the layer of morning condensation all served to conspire against his vision.

His sense of sight failing him, he leaned an ear against the pane of glass, hoping that his sense of hearing would not do the same.

"Jack! Where have ya been all this time? I've been waiting for you." Came the low voice from within the store. Was it a male or a female voice? He couldn't be certain. With that, he pressed his ear closer, straining desperately to hear more.

"It's been a long time hasn't it?" Jack asked in a rather upbeat, glib voice. The kind of voice that Will had come to learn usually meant that Jack was working up to a deception of one kind or another.

"Too long, I'm afraid." The voice was definitely that of a female this time. 'Perhaps that of an older lady.' Will thought quietly to himself.

"Where did we leave off? Oh yes, if my memory serves." Will could not see Jack putting the moves on this mystery woman but he could certainly hear it. The giggle, the sounds of her hands no doubt batting away Jack's own as he took a mile long liberty with this lady. Oh yes, it was certainly a woman he was talking to, of that fact he was now certain.

"Now, Jack, business before pleasure. Rumor has it that you finally found what you was lookin' fer."

"Yes, I believe I have and to think that I sailed all around the world trying to find what was right here in front of me this whole entire time." More giggling and a few shuffled steps followed as Will's eyes nervously darted around the vacant street, his mind not letting him forget his criminal status.

"Always the gentleman but I know the truth. You've located the isle haven't you? Take me, Jack, take me with you!"

"Sure, I'll take you." Will jolted as he heard what he was certain was a heavy handed slap across Jack's face, followed by the loud crash of some type of metal inside the building.

"You know what I mean Jack Sparrow. If you want to borrow my gold so you can go chasing after that cursed ship than I demand you give me something I can use as collateral."

No doubt having righted himself, Jack replied. "Darling, you know why I can't take you along with me. On the other hand, I understand your position, so what say you to staying here and letting me send for you once I have done what is necessary?"

"What guarantee do I have that you will not just leave me here then?" Came the unknown woman's reply.

To that, Will could vaguely see Jack point in his direction, causing him to look around only to find himself still alone among the desolate block. He turned back to the glass only to see Jack heading towards the door. He leaned one arm against the building, feigning innocence and not really wanting Jack to know that he was eavesdropping on him. Why he did that, he did not know, it just seemed somehow, wrong, to invade another's privacy.

"Come along now." Jack urged as he shook the tiny bag of coins that the woman had given him in front of Will. "You were listening in on me, weren't you? Own up to it."

Sheepishly, Will tugged his hat further down his face in a vain attempt to shield his guilty blush.

"You're an honest lad. So was your father." Jack said, earning a look from Will, eager for any word of his absent parent. "That's what got him killed. You would do well to remember that."

Will only continued to follow Jack down along the winding street, turning his head back to see if the woman would make herself known. As they reached the end of the road, he saw only her shadow as she left the tiny shop and headed off in the opposite direction. For a minute, he wondered if she had ever known his father too, before dismissing the idea as they carried on.

To where they were heading, only Jack knew.


End file.
